Roger Federer: Wimbledon Draw Sets Up Another Semis Showdown with Novak Djokovic

When the men's draw for Wimbledon 2012 was announced on Friday, a string of expletives likely issued forth from the general vicinity of Binningen, Switzerland.

If Roger Federer is going to advance to the finals in pursuit of a record-tying seventh men's singles title at Wimbledon, he will have to get past the world's top-ranked player to do so.

According to The Newark Star-Ledger, Federer could face Novak Djokovic in the semifinals for the fifth time in the past seven Grand Slam tournaments. Federer, who is presently ranked third in the world, was seeded in the same side of the men's bracket as the reigning Wimbledon champion.

Djokovic has dominated these meetings, winning four of the five matches, including a straight-sets win in the French Open a couple of weeks ago.

This tournament will be played grass, a surface that has always suited Federer's game. Although the 30-year-old has struggled against Djokovic and Rafael Nadal of late, Federer recently told ESPN's Kamakshi Tandon that he feels his game is still on par with the two players ranked ahead of him by the ATP.

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"I feel like I'm at eye level with them," Federer said last week. "I'm not missing much to win a Grand Slam again. I know many doubt that. But I don't."

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However, the number of people who share that assessment continues to shrink with each passing tournament. The voices of those who doubt Federer's ability to compete with the younger Djokovic were only emboldened when Federer shockingly lost to 34-year-old Tommy Haas last week in the final of the Gerry Weber Open.

In fact, even the once-friendly courts at the All England Tennis Club have seemingly turned their backs on the holder of a record 16 Grand Slam tournament titles.

Federer hasn't won the title at Wimbledon in what seems like an eternity—actually, it was 2009—and has been bounced in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon the past two years, both times by the player seeded 12th in the tournament (Tomáš Berdych in 2010 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2011).

If Federer has an ace up his sleeve, it may come from above. Weather forecasts have called for rain during the tournament (shock and amazement, it rains in London). As Tim Henman recently told The Daily Telegraph, rainy conditions at Wimbledon would play to Federer's advantage.

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“If the Centre Court roof comes over,” Henman says, “you will be talking about the world’s first indoor grand slam. I’d like to see Roger play Novak under the Wimbledon roof, because right now, he [Federer] is the best indoor player in the world.”

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It may well take the tennis equivalent of a natural disaster for Federer to defeat Djokovic, should the pair meet again. Outside a few recent setbacks on clay (including this year's French Open final against Nadal), the 25-year-old Serb has looked unstoppable for most of the past two years.

That said, given the success that Federer has enjoyed at Wimbledon throughout his storied career, the relative "old man" may yet have one last run in London left in him.

Although the scheduling gods seem intent on making Roger Federer get past both Djokovic and Nadal to capture a 17th Grand Slam tournament title, perhaps this time Mother Nature will cut him a break.

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